


Lathbora Viran

by MatriarchofFire



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2015-01-07
Packaged: 2018-03-04 18:11:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3079442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MatriarchofFire/pseuds/MatriarchofFire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The path to a place of lost love. It was the best way to translate it to humans. Lathbora Viran was the path Inquisitor Lavellan chose. It promised to be bloody, complex. The Arlathven'Belanar was hers to make, and yet she would have to fool everyone she knew to make it happen. Her clan, her child, even the Inquisition could not know what she planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Amathana

_My twin Spirit,_

_Revas will be coming with me for our celebration of twin birth. It has been long since we danced beneath the stars and the moon together. He has never danced with the People. He has never heard our songs from any mouth but my own, and You have never seen your nephew's face. It is the greatest gift I can bring to you, I think. He is a precious child, a gift to me from the Creators to soothe my sorrows. When I felt his life inside of me, I knew I would be alright._

_I hope he will bring the same joy to the Clan when we are with you. The guardsmen who travel with us have been told to expect you just outside the clan's camp. We worry there may be trouble on the road. I hope not._

_The Venatori have increased their activities, and I had been urged to remain at Skyhold. I cannot miss our twin birth celebrations again. I miss you. I miss all of them. I miss the company of my own kind. It will be good for Revas to walk with the clan for a few days. The Shadow of the Inquisition is a hard place for a child to grow._

_Please do not be frightened when you see my face is bare of vallaslin. It will be hard to explain to the Keeper most of all. I do not know if she will believe my reasons for giving them from my skin so freely. It will be easier for the men to tell us apart, at least. No one will come to us thinking us our other spirit. Do you remember how confused Arthelan used to get sometimes?_

_We will stay until the moon has gone. It will be a good, long vacation. I want him to learn our ways and be around his own people. The shemlen he has grown with are kind and good, but they are not Elvhen. He has been separated from the People for too long. We will see you soon._

_Ma'arlath, sister._

_Venuriel Lavellan_

* * *

 

Her twin spirit would be close soon. Amathana stared out toward the road and worried over her robes. Few distractions existed to keep her busy during her wait. Since dawn she took her post at the opening of the camp and watched the road for any sign of her sister. Too long passed behind her since last she saw her twin spirit.

With her sister's departure from the clan, she now served as First to their Keeper. Six years it had been since last the Inquisitor walked with her Clan, and now she returned for their birth celebrations. As precious as their rare Twin Birth was, the visit of her sister now might make the event pale in comparison for her clan. It would be the first time she saw her nephew, a little boy of but four years. He had but four months until his own birthday came.

Amathana expected him to be half-Shem, no matter the way his sister spoke of his pure blood. The Inquisition did not attract many of The People, she knew from the stories. Her sister once wrote to her of a man who was Elvhen like them, but after the defeat of their great enemy, his name never appeared again. She did not name him when she birthed her son to a full moon. She did not name him even when asked. All she ever said was that he had a reason for everything, and she assumed that included her son. Two years of asking, and Amathana stopped trying. She told herself not to ask now. She had to believe that this mysterious fellow that abandoned her sister sired Revas.

Worry plagued her. The moon shined with a pale yellow light that frightened her in the night, and now She felt the fear in her waking. Always she worried for her twin spirit, especially when she knew she traveled. It pained her now to think something had gone wrong while she walked with the Da'len in tow. He likely slowed their progress. His little feet could only carry him so quick, and carrying him the whole way would put a terrible burden upon her sister's shoulders. They should have been there by now, regardless of the child. Her gut told her something was wrong.

The Northern Free Marches carried a chill air that signalled the return of winter to their forested lands. A little further south and the ocean air that passed over Kirkwall and the Sundermount would keep them warm, but not in this place. Her Clan found peace and comfort in surviving through the cold. The shemlen did not come into the forest when the cold arrived. The Tevinter slavers that plagued them all too often in the summer months ceased their attacks. Now, the flames she conjured with the Keeper burned high and tall between each family of the clan, and already they huddled about them from protection against the cold. The hunters could not stay out as long. She wondered if they would return before her sister found them.

The shifting of the wood ahead of her signaled the approach of a traveller. Three sets of footsteps; one of them she could hardly hear. It must have been the boy, too small for the forest to carry.

When she saw an elven boy come up the road flanked by two shemlen(or at least she thought they were shemlen, she couldn't see their faces in their armor), her belly flew high into her throat. The banner of the Inquisition decorated their armor. The guardsmen looked battle worn. The cloth which peaked through their plated armor appeared bloody. If it was their blood or the blood of their enemies, Amathana could not say for sure. They did not walk as if wounded. Fatigue weighed upon them and brought them low.

The boy seemed tired and frightened. His bright blue eyes she could see from down the road. Dark hair, not quite black. It was not the pale blond she and her twin spirit sported. He had pointed ears. No quick blood ran in his veins. This had to be her sister's dear child Revas. He had the same look on his face she saw on her sister many times before, something between fear and determination. It was all she needed to know him immediately.

"Where is the Inquisitor?"

"Taken, my lady- is that what we call you? This is the Lavellan clan?"

"Yes!" Amathana rushed forward to greet them," you're in the right place."

Her rush startled the boy, and he ducked swiftly away to hide behind the legs of one of the guardsmen. He moved on quick legs with the run of a future hunter, but if Amathana knew one thing of her sister's choice of sire, she imagined the boy had the Gift.

"You'll have to forgive the boy. It has been.. An arduous journey. If we turned back, we feared the same who took his mother would try to take him as well."

"It's alright, I understand," Amathana kneeled before them and offered a hand to the child," what is your name,Da'len?"

She knew his name, but she had to break the ice somewhere. He knew the language of the Elvhen, and the familiar term perked his ears. He reached out to her, as if the use of the word confirmed her friendliness.

"Revas," he answered in a small voice.

"Revas," she repeated, and she took his hand into her own.

She always thought it a peculiar name. What an odd choice on her sister's part. Freedom. How free was he really while they lived among shemlen?

"I am your auntie Amathana," she smiled at him," you are safe now."

"You look like Mamae," he said after a time of silence," are the bad men going to give her back?"

"We'll make them give her back, Da'len. No one will keep my twin spirit away from you," she leaned in and offered her other arm to him.

He came in to hug her, his young mind satisfied that he was in a safe place now. Amathana wrapped her arms about him and held him close. All the while, she looked up to the guardsmen. They watched her with some apprehension. She looked exactly like her sister, so it made it easier for them to trust her. However, they must have been uncertain what must be done going forward.

"Do you have any leads?"

"Venatori, Tevinter cultists. They served Corypheus during the crisis, ma'am." The taller of the guardsmen responded to her.

"She said there was some worry about them. Are there any inquisition allies in the Free Marches?"

"Varric is in Kirkwall. He has allies there, people who would help. We could go to him, ask him to aid in recovering the Inquisitor," the other guardsman spoke," it isn't far south. We could make the journey there and back in three days."

"Do it. I'll take Revas in to the Clan and inform the Keeper we need to keep our guard up," Amathana stood and kept hold of the boy.

She balanced him on her hip, and she glanced down toward the campsite far behind her. She felt the eyes of the Keeper upon her, and the visitor to her right did not take his gaze away from the Inquisitor soldiers. She made note of the way he stood at attention, as if in fear.

She would remember that look upon his face well. He stood out among the clan, given his bare face and head. He had eyes like a thin layer of ice over a dark lake. The staff he carried denoted him as a Mage like herself. The glimmering crystal at its end seemed to smoke, leaving a trail of mists wherever he walked. He had earned her curiosity when he arrived the day before, but now he had her attention.

It could not be a coincidence he arrived the day before her sister was lost.

"Do you have supplies? Do you need rest?" She lifted her gaze back to the guardsmen.

"The Inquisitor's safety is more important. If we get a start for Kirkwall now, we'll be back faster. We have supplies enough to make it that far. We have an idea where they might have gone, and Varric's contacts could start the search before we even return."

"Okay. Please, come back to us with him. I want to be there when we go after my sister," Amathana bowed her head to the guards.

She watched them go, and Revas squeezed her tight. She glanced down to him and caught him staring at the backs of those that saved his life. It must have been frightening to see the last familiar sight go from his vision. Now he was alone with his distant family.

"They will return, Da'len. When they do, we will bring your mother home," she tried to comfort the child," until then, your clan will protect you. Lets go meet the Keeper."

He buried his head into the extra cloth about her neck, another sign of fear. She worried for him. Her sister's little light had never been without her, and so young.. It must be a terrible trauma.

Keeper Deshanna waited for them with her hands to her chest, chestnut hair draping her face and hiding her expression from view. The lack of her former First must have moved her to prayer. Amathana would join her for such prayers later. The whole clan would offer up their pleas as they did many times during her sister's quest years ago.

The Visitor remained beside the Keeper and leaned upon his staff. He came upon their clan suddenly, professing to be an elf from Kirkwall seeking a Dalish Clan to be with his people. He did not seem to be comfortable among them. He passed a single daylingering at the edge of camp, and she had yet to learn his name. With the Inquisition gone, he looked at ease. His unusual gaze settled on the boy now, and she could do nothing but squeeze the child tighter to her chest. She would keep her eyes on him.

"She was taken while on the road, Keeper. I know her. She would have told them to protect her child before herself," Amathana turned to try and get the boy to look at the Keeper," this is Revas."

He refused to look, but the Keeper did not seem insulted by this. She reached out to press a hand to the back of his head with the touch of an elder trying to comfort a weeping child.

"You are safe now, Da'len. We will not let them hurt you," she whispered to him.

"I want my mommy back," he whimpered as response.

"We will get her back," Amathana assured him," I promise you."

"It will be a difficult task," the visitor interrupted.

The looks of admonition that fell upon him silenced him for but a moment. He looked between them with a narrowing glance of his own. He did not seem the sort to be silenced by a pair of women directing him to do so wordlessly. Indeed, Amathana guessed correctly about him. The visitor's pride rose over their disagreement, however, and he continued.

"Did the Inquisition say who took her?"

"Venatori, they are-"

"Tevinter cultists, yes," his interruption earned a glare from the First," but can a single Dalish clan match the extremists of an entire nation?"

"We will not go to meet them in battle," the Keeper solidified her stance," we will wait for the Inquisition agents, and will we do as they suggest. My people are not warriors."

"Some of them would try to be for her, Keeper, but yes. These people cannot fight Tevinter beyond the slavers who come to try and take us," Amathana struggled to hold the boy up properly on her hip as she spoke.

"Where are the agents of the Inquisition?" The visitor inquired.

"Kirkwall. My sister has friends there who will come."

The visitor stilled as he considered that statement. He looked to the child in her arms, and he addressed him for the first time.

"Can you tell us what happened, Da'len?"

"No," the child's soft voice trapped itself in Amathana's Robes. He squeezed his arms around her neck. His muscles across his back felt tense. The quivering in his words told her he cried against her. The moisture she felt on her shoulder a few moments later confirmed it.

"What about just to me, Revas? You and I share blood.." The First ran her fingers through the boy's thin hair.

"He knows none of us, yet alone Abelas. He is not of this clan. The boy knows he isn't of his blood."

"Abelas is your name, visitor?" Amathana focused her gaze on his bare face," do all Elvhen from shemlen lands bare such sad names?"

"Few know the language of our people. I doubt my mother knew what it meant," he explained himself, but Amathana found that a peculiar coincidence.

She chose not to address it,"I'll sit with the boy by the fire. Perhaps after some rest, he will tell us what happened."

"Make sure the child sleeps in an aravel, Amathana. He needs to be hidden," Keeper Deshanna spoke.

Her gentle affections to the boy continued as she attempted to soothe him. The Keeper's touch could never equal his mother's comforts, but Amathana knew she would try anyway. The First did little but hold him and keep a watchful gaze on all the Clan. It seemed every pair of eyes lingered on them. They expected the Inquisitor, and instead they received her fatherless son.

Amathana hoped he would not soon be motherless as well.


	2. Revas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revas lays down to sleep, and he finds he has a visitor to his dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for your interest and reading!

Mamae called it the fade. Revas called it the big forest.

 

If he ran far enough, Revas sometimes came into his mother's big forest, except it wasn't a forest. It was always a snowy place he had never been to in his short life. She told him it wasn't a real place anymore, and when he asked about his big forest, she told him he must have pieced it together from all the places she carried him. Her snowy place used to be called Haven before it was destroyed. She said she dreamt with his father often there, and all she could do in her waking dreams was hope he would come.

 

She told him his father used to take her to far off places through dreams. He knew how to make them feel real. Mamae tried to show him the places his father showed her when they left the snowy place, but it was all fog. She didn't remember them well enough, she said. Always, she said they would try again later. They only ever succeeded when his mother walked those places physically.

 

But Revas was very good at remembering the places in his big forest. His trees came from the Emerald Graves. Stone wolves sometimes poked out of the thick growth, reminders of where he came from. Mamae called the wolf Fen'harel. He liked having the statues in his big forest. He said they looked better than the hala statues. His mother never disagreed with him. She delighted in how much he liked having them around, and he never asked why it made her so happy.

 

The minute he laid his head down into his auntie's lap, Revas started to run through his dreams to find his mother. They told him to rest, but he could not. Though he slept, the boy's hours had a single purpose. He knew only one way to see his mother now, and he needed to run to her. Free as a bird, he darted between trees. His small feet never caught knots in the tree roots. The grass gave way to his bare feet, and the trees themselves glowed for him. The silvery light they gave off lit the dark forest for him. He never saw the trees glow in the Graves, but he wanted them too. This was his dream, after all. The trees could be whatever he wanted.

 

He never tired in his dream place. He could run forever and play with his friends that came to see him. They called themselves by many names. Good spirits protected him and played with him. Sometimes Cole came when he had hurt himself in his waking hours, to soothe away his pain. He wondered if the funny hat man would come now that he had cried for Mamae all day. He wished the funny hat man would come and make him feel better. Instead of his favored playmate, he would have a new visitor.

 

The big forest fell away from under his feet, and Revas felt gravel between his toes. The tall wood disappeared in a fog, and he hoped he had found his mother's snowy place. The snowy town never fogged up like this when his mother was there. He only saw fog like this when he entered a new dream. Many times he accidentally stumbled into the dreams of his mother's friends, but he did not know anyone close by.

 

"Mamae! Mamae, you here?"

 

The man who kept asking him questions when he was awake appeared in the fog with his back facing toward the child.  He sat on the gravel roadway, almost entirely unaware of his visitor. The man glanced over his shoulder once Revas neared him. The boy froze in his steps. He felt ice in the older man's gaze, and he told himself he should be aware of it.

 

"Do you make a habit of invading dreams, Da'len?"

 

"I was looking for my mommy. If I run this way when I dream at home, I find her," Revas dropped his gaze to the ground.

 

The man with the sad name unnerved him. He didn't like looking at him for long. Something told him that he should look away. Out of respect or fear, he could not say. His mother once told him the difference was little more than the thickness of a paper. He should have the strength to determine which was which, but he was just a boy. He did not have his mother's strength yet.

 

"A good idea, but she is too far away for you to reach, I think. This place is not so familiar for you yet," Abelas stood from where he sat, and Revas heard him start walking closer.

 

"Do you have big forest dreams too, Hahren?" Revas decided to look up at his dream visitor.

 

He stood high above him with his arms held behind his back. He looked so tall and proud! Revas hoped he would be as tall someday so he could make fun of his tiny uncle. Mamae always told him he would be tall someday, but someday felt so far away.

 

"This place is called the Fade. Sometimes, there are forests. Surely your mother told you that."

 

"She did. I just see big forests all the time. Mamae showed me lots of forests when we went places."

 

"It is what is most familiar to you then," Abelas paused and glanced about the foggy plane. In an instant, they were in the big forest again.

 

It was darker with Revas' visitor in the forest, but he was not afraid. The statues of the big wolf peaked out of the trees at them, and they appeared to capture his visitor's attention. Abelas stepped away from them to admire the structure, and he spoke as he reached out to touch the stone. Revas watched his thin fingers find the crevices in the statues, and his dream friend did not look away all the while.

 

"These are from the Emerald Graves. Did your mother take you there?"

 

"Once. Mommy had lots of elf friends with her. They went to the tomb-thing. Lots of them stayed," Revas chased after him, and he came to stand still at Abelas' feet.

 

"Elf friends?" That drew the tall man's attention. He looked straight down at the child, the wolf beneath his hand forgotten.

 

"They came from lots of places. Some of them had funny voices,  and some of them spoke lots of Mommy's language. I couldn't understand sometimes," Revas felt vaguely like he said too much, but his visitor was so interested!

 

"I see. She has broadened her horizons, then."

 

"What does that mean?"

 

"She's made new friends," Abelas tried to explain as he sank down to the boy's level.

 

He kneeled before the child and looked him square in the eye. The more they talked, Revas knew he was not afraid. He did not know his dream friend, but that changed with every word. He felt he knew him better than he might ever know his mother's clan.

 

"Mamae makes new friends all the time. From all over. She carries me everywhere to visit. They come to see us sometimes too," Revas stood as still as he could in front of his new friend.

 

"It is good of her to show you the lost places of your people," his visitor paused,” I will go in search of your mother's dreams. Stay here in your forest, Da'len. If I find her, I will bring her To you."

 

The child blinked once, and his new friend was gone. The leaves high in the trees above him whistled with the wind. His friend must have left on the breeze. He hoped that he would find his mother. He missed her very much.

 

Revas passed his time waiting by chasing rabbits in the woods. He wanted to catch one and feel its soft fur under his hand. They ran from him as if he were a predator, but he would not dare harm it. He yelled it after them, but whatever spirit played the rabbit for him pretended not to hear.

 

He tired of it eventually and found a patch of cool grass to lay in. It reminded him of the first time his mother took him to the Exalted Plains. They laid down in the grasses beside a herd of hala and watched them graze just a few feet away. The golden one that walked with the nearest clan was made as a gift to his mother. She rode it everywhere she went when they traveled with her elf friends. She had so many elf friends.

 

His dream friend never came back. Revas wondered if he found his mother, if he had stopped to talk to her and just did not bring her back to him. He frowned. He missed his mother, and another day would go by without her.

 

A snap of light tore through his big forest, and Revas knew he had awakened. The world shifted and he found he laid on his side, tucked into one of the aravels by his aunt. He fell asleep under the sky, but she must have moved him like his mother did when they walked with the big clan. The furs wrapped around him kept his body  warm against the chilly air that stung at his face.

* * *

 

Amathana laid close by, and she stared at him with eyes that reminded him too much of his mother. If he could replace her with his mother, he would. He wanted to ask if Abelas had found his mother, but she would not know. He had to find his new friend.

 

"Is mister Abelas awake?" Revas asked.

 

Amathana quirked a brow at him as she pushed off from the floor of the aravel to sit up," I don't think he is, Da'len. He slept til the sun came overhead the first day he was here."

 

"Can I go see?"

 

"Why do you need to speak to him?" She looked wary.

 

"I want to ask him about where he comes from," Revas attempted to lie.

 

Amathana's did not know him as well as his mother, so she did not see the way he ringed his fingers. She could not read the lie in his little eyes, and so she waved her arm out toward the center of the camp. Revas felt clever and crafty for tricking his aunt. He would feel guilty for it if he lied to his mother.

 

"Go ahead, Revas. He slept by the fire yesterday."

 

He sat up from the bed roll and darted from within the aravel with speed only a child could muster. Much of the clan already went about their business. Hunters would be gone a long time, he knew. When his mother took him to the big clan, they left before the sun could come, but they had more people to feed.  One door after the other he rushed toward the bald elf sitting beside the fire. His new friend woke at the same time as him.

 

He saw the unfamiliar faces turn their gazes on him. Revas knew he was a curiosity among them. They knew His mother who walked with them once, but this was his first time. He never walked with them before this, and so he was a stranger to them. The circumstances of his mother's appearance made him a curiosity and a treasure to guard.If he went to the big clan, they would welcome him with open arms. He wanted to be back with them. He hoped they would take him back there soon.

 

His dream friend sat awakened by the fire with a small meal in hand. Abelas glanced over his shoulder at him, and Revas stopped in his tracks when he knew he had been spotted. Only when Abelas motioned for him to come forward did he close the distance and sit beside him.

 

"Mamae?" Revas asked as he glanced up to his dream friend.

 

The man furrowed his brow and offered out his section of dried meat to the child. Revas tore of part of the jerky for himself, and he chewed upon it as his dream friend leaned in to whisper to him in conspiracy. The child felt like a part of a big secret.

 

"She is safe for now. When her friends come, we will know where to go."

 

"Will you go with them?" The boy asked.

 

"I want to. I don't believe they will let me."

 

"Well," Revas chewed over his thoughts with his dried venison," could you take me to her when we sleep next? I want Mamae."

 

"That I can do," his dream friend said.

 

Revas sat beside him quietly through their breakfast after his important questions were answered. He often looked away from the fire and toward the peculiar necklace around his new friend's neck. He sometimes saw his mother's friends in the big clan wear animal bones around their necks, but he had never seen that one before. He reached out to press his fingers to the teeth. It must have been something's jaw.

 

Abelas caught his wrist when he reached out to touch it, and the quick grasp frightened the boy.

 

"I just-- I wanted to know what it is."

 

"It is a wolf's jaw," the elder released his hand after a second of hesitation.

 

"Why do you wear it? Are you a hunter? Mamae's friends that wear ten are hunters." His curiosity was unending.

 

His dream friend showed some signs of irritation before his face softened. Revas could tell he did not see many children. A few of his mother's friends showed similar signs of irritation when he pressed his questions. He needed answers!

 

"Of sorts," came the short answer.

 

The meal passed in silence. Revas knew when to stop asking questions.

 

Through all his waking hours, Revas followed his dream friend through the campsite. He chose to take his meals with him much to the dismay of his aunt and to the irritation of the clan's   Visitor. Revas only ever left his company to lay down for a nap, and in those hours he again tried to find his mother. No matter how far he ran in his dreams, he found nothing.

 

When he was awake in camp, he stayed away from the other children. Most were older than him and some were too young. He decided to stay awake with his dream friend, and wherever he walked, so did Revas. His aunt watched him the entire time, he knew. He felt her eyes on his back, and more than once she approached to offer him something to eat or drink. His dream friend seemed to grow irritated with him from time to time, but never did he ask him to leave. Sometimes, they sat  at the edge of camp and his dream friend told him stories about his mother.

 

Abelas talked as if he knew his mother well. Stories of battles Revas heard a thousand times were told from a different perspective, and even if he knew how it ended, it helped him feel as if his mother was not so far away. He wanted the night to come so his dream friend would take him to his mother. He missed the sound of her singing and the way she would hold him when he could not sleep. He even missed it when she tried to make him eat vegetables. It would at least mean he had his mother. The Dalish did not make him do anything he did not want to do. Neither did his dream friend who earned the child's unending company.

  
  
  
  



End file.
